I have bermuda in my yard. The front is just like a golf green. The back though has been fighting low ground weeds and clover, mostly in the shady areas. I fertilize alot with Nature's Guide and about every two months put dried molasses.

First question, they say to put sugar to get rid of clover over time. Is that CGM or Molasses?

Also the part where the bermuda struggles is partly shaded by a neighbor's tree. Could I put Shadow Turf plugs to help this? I do know that the soil is harder in this area and I don't know what to do to better the soil and aerate it.

thanks!

Molasses



Yes, you should blend a shade tolerant variety in those areas or convert them to ground cover or bedding areas. Bermuda will not win in shade.



What is the composition of your soil?

I have mostly clay. Overtime, the first couple of inches have become better enriched due to fertilizing. The areas that I am having trouble with is compacted and hard.

I'm in the Fort Worth area (Kennedale, TX)

Molasses or any other sugar will have no effect on clover. You need real fertilizer to improve the soil. However...

Is your shady area also a low lying area where water accumulates? If so the accumulation of water is the problem and is caused by the soil not being open enough. Accumulated water kills the beneficial fungi in the soil making the soil that much harder. Molasses would help with water penetration to open the soil. You might also try using baby shampoo for even better water penetration. Mix the molasses and shampoo in a hose end sprayer. Then, immediately, water the area to wash it in. Coverage should be about 3 ounces each of molasses and soap per 1,000 square feet. This means if your area is only 100 square feet, you can put a few teaspoons of molasses and soap into the sprayer, fill it with water, and spray it all onto that one area. I'd do that every time you irrigate for 2 months and look for improvement.

Shadow Turf would be great in the shade assuming it gets some light. For example even ST will have a little trouble getting going if under a dense, low hanging tree. It will eventually fill in but it works better with more light.

I think the soil is compacted there. I will try the baby shampoo + molasses.

Thanks for your help!

Hard soil and compacted soil are two different things. Soil gets hard when it dries out. Compacting is caused by driving all the air out of the soil. Cattle can compact the soil in a rain soaked pasture, but even repeated stampedes over relatively dry soil will not compact it.

How do I know the difference? It's probably both?

If you have not had livestock walking over your lawn for several days while it was saturated with water, then you almost certainly do not have compacted soil. It only happens near a water tank, rainsoaked pastures with animals on it, or sometimes when someone drives a vehicle over a lawn when it is soaked from rain or irrigation. True compaction is an extremely rare event in a neighborhood.

If you went back a few thousand years, when it rained lightly for hundreds of years, the rain itself pounded the air out of the soil. Visit the caprock areas of Texas and New Mexico to see the results of that episode.

Well, I can safely say the only livestock I've had are my two dogs, so I have hard soil. I do know that it gets drier faster than the rest of my yard. I think since the grass doesn't grow well in this area the water just rolls away.
I have alot of red clay beneath and over time the surface has improved with soil amendments but it's a slow road.

Reread my first post on the fungi. That is your problem.

Got it. Thanks!